Rustic side table made with pallet wood

Spring is here! Time for outdoor DIY projects. 

This week Ive designed a shabby-chic side table for your deck or patio. Anyone can build this project with just a few basic tools and no large workshop space is necessary. I made this entire project using free wood obtained from old pallets.

• You can make this entirely using hand tools, but it will be much easier if you have a jigsaw and a power sander. Both are inexpensive, easy to use, and will save you a lot of time and muscle aches. 
• If you would like to try your hand at busting apart a pallet (its quite easy to do) you will need a crowbar and a hammer with a claw for prying out nails. 
• I used 1/2" dowels for the exposed pins. These are decorative and not necessary for the strength of the table. If you would like to include them, you will need a drill and a 1/2" bit for boring holes.
• I used wood glue, 1", and 3/4" nails to assemble the project. The glue gives the table its strength: the nails are just needed to hold the pieces in place while the glue dries.
• A couple of clamps would be handy.
• I finished my table using Spar Urethane. Its a great outdoor finish that will protect the wood from the elements.
•  I used 80 grit (rough) sandpaper, mostly to clean off dirt, and stopped there. 

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If you would like to give this project a try here are some plans:

• WWMM Rustic side table plans (PDF)
• SketchUp file

Building it is very easy. If you are new to woodworking, maybe a new home owner who wants to get ready for outdoor entertaining this summer, this is a great project to start with. There is no need to get too fussy about any of it: its supposed to look rustic!*****

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Make a wood train whistle

I set out this week to make this years a New Years Eve noisemaker. I decided to make a horn or some other kind of wind-powered instrument. After making a couple of these whistles, I decided they wouldnt exactly make for much of a video.

I researched whistles and was reminded of the classic wooden train whistle. My son loved these as a boy and they arent too difficult to make. Its essentially the same whistle as the one above, but with four tone holes and a cap to direct air into all of them.
I took notes on the ones I made and you can download my measurements to try out. Its surprisingly easy to get good tones. Just take some time to fool around with it and come up with something that sounds good to you.

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Make an itsy bitsy teeny tiny wood box and earrings

Mothers Day is approaching!Well now that you have let that sink in and have entered into the panic stage, heres a project that is easy to make and will finally buy your mothers love.
Okay, that was a joke. Seriously, we all want to build handcrafted items for gifts. Why not use some of that special scrap wood youve been saving and make a little box. If you are ambitious, put some earrings in it.
No one needs to know that they were made with cutoffs that we considered tossing out.

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The Blair Wood Project

Its the third annual Mere Mortals Halloween video.

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New fair chair and new wood

Sorry I havent posted anything this week. Its getting down to the end of the school year for Wyatt and we are scrambling to finish up a couple of units I wanted to complete this year. Then its off to high school next fall.
We had a meeting earlier in the week for all the parents of the drama students. Its really going to be a busy curriculum.  For performing arts schools, this one looks really awesome.
Naturally, we were hit up for lots of parent volunteering. I signed up to work in the build crew to help make sets, props, and what-not. That should be really fun. I suspect they will have a lot of work for me, since I have a shop. Crazy how schools no longer have wood shops. Or any other trade classes for that matter.
New wood!It was a great week for mail, and I have to give a few shout-outs to people who sent me stuff.
Larry Clinton send me a large box of all kinds of extra wood: mahogany, ipe, etc.

Scott Egbert sent me an enormous box of Walnut, Mahogany and something red.

And lastly, thanks goes to our friend Tim Sluder, who sent me four small mirrors and a bunch of shaker pegs! My imagination is already running wild. Gotta come up with something cool.

So thanks guys! I really appreciate your support. Looks for this stuff in upcoming projects.

The Fair Chair 2011.

The Marin County Fair is at the beginning of July, so I already got a head start this year. You may recall back in January when I showed you this picture of a chair that I thought I may try to duplicate.

It takes me a while to get around to things, but heres my version:

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Make a wood bracelet

Last weekend I was watching the movie Atlas Shrugged which features a metal bracelet. I love the angular and geometric simplicity of it and decided to make one out of wood.
Ive made a few wood jewelry projects in the past and have discovered that no matter how simple the project appears to be, it always seems to come with its own set of challenges, mostly due to the small scale. If, when building a three-foot wide storage cabinet, a measurement is off by a 1/8", I dont get too worried. On a one-inch wide bracelet link, an eight of an inch is unacceptable.
This bracelet and earring set can be made with just a hand saw, a hand drill, and a plane. As with any jewelry project, you want the wood to be thin and lightweight. If you happen to have wood that is already 1/8" thick or less, you are good to go.
I used a piece of Yucatan Rosewood for my bracelet. Its got a beautiful reddish color and a dark grain. The nice thing about making wood jewelry is that is requires very little wood, so its a great opportunity to use some scraps youve been saving. It can also be a good excuse to splurge on some exotic lumber. Just make sure the wood is hard. Soft woods such as pine are likely to break.

The biggest problem I ran into with this was that it simply didnt look right when I first assembled it. The rings I bought were just too big. It was a case of something that could only be discovered in the "real world". On paper, the rings looked good. I made another trip to the craft store and bought some 10mm rings, which worked out perfectly.
If you would like to experiment with this design, here is the cutting template I made for the earrings and the bracelet.

• WWMM wood bracelet (pdf)
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Wood Olympic rings

This project was really just a challenge to myself. I found this picture and after studying it a long time and thinking it over, I posed the question on Facebook. "How would you make this?"

Its one of those projects that looks simple at first, but upon closer inspection has a number of problems: cutting the circles identical and even. Then there are the notches. I thought a while about making half-lap joints but quickly came to my senses. Im not sure if that would even be possible!

Eventually I worked it all out. It was a really interesting challenge. And if you ever have a need to cut identical rings, the jig I made for this works really nicely.

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Build a rustic wine cabinet using free pallet wood Great upcycling project

In case I ever become a grape farmer and bottle my own wine, my son Wyatt designed this hipster bottle label that will work out perfectly. ("Its so exclusive, youve probably never heard of it.")

Over the years I have had a number of people ask me to build a wine rack or cabinet. Oddly enough, I live near the heart of Californias Wine Country, but am not a wine drinker myself which probably accounts for why it has taken me this long to make one. 

I decided to make a display cabinet for those of us who like to keep a few bottles on hand for special occasions or guests. I designed it to resemble a wooden crate, possibly one that has been taken apart and hobbled together for a new purpose. I also wanted the bottle labels to show, making the entire unit a decorative piece: I like the juxtaposition of the rustic assembly with fine wine. The shelves tilt to the side to keep the corks from drying out.

Monetize your woodworking

Rustic projects using recycled wood are very trendy at the  moment. This project would sell well at craft fairs. (Probably starting at around $80 - $100.) It is simple to make and if you use free pallet wood the profit margin is huge. Buyers like to feel they are part of an effort to reduce waste, and expensive wine displayed in a unique cabinet is a great conversation starter. 

Free plans:

• WWMM Rustic wine cabinet (pdf)
• SketchUp file
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Make a wood clock

A video from the Non-Yankee Workshop.Let me give you some back story on this project.
Last weekend, I started tossing around ideas for a BBQ caddy and planned on building it for this weeks show. You may be wondering why I would build a barbecue project in January. Well it is Summer in Australia and I have been working with Warren Downes to develop something for Australia Day coming up at the end of the month.
As we started hashing out ideas, I began to realize that this could make for a really fun video...especially since he offered to shoot some stuff Down Under. So I have tabled that project until I can come up with something good. That video and project will be on the 27th, just in time for the holiday.

New projectSo I needed a project for this week. As I mentioned in my last post, Ive been saving the clock for this project for a long time. I started playing around with various pieces of scrap wood and sketching out a bunch of different designs. Eventually, the concept of a "floating" clock struck me. From there, it was actually pretty simple to execute. My main concern was how to make the holes in the circle perfectly straight and perpendicular. Boring them before cutting the circle is the solution.
I shot the video without any sound so I could add a soundtrack of some sort. It seemed simple enough that it didnt require me babbling on. After I edited it together I wanted to tack on an introduction and thought it would be funny to do it as a real woodworking show, complete with safety warnings and overly long instruction. I put on my Roy Underhill mustache and a ridiculously bad Southern accent. Then it hit me to include an incredibly verbose soundtrack on a video that needed none!
CopycatNow the strange part. After I posted the finished photo here and on Facebook a few days ago, a couple of people mentioned that it looked like one that Marc Spagnuolo made. My first thought was one of amusement: I couldnt imagine Marc making something so simple!

Well, more people mentioned the same thing, then a viewer sent me a link to The Wood Whisperers video. Yup. Sure enough, back in 2008, Marc made a clock that looks very similar to the one I just made. It is eerie: he used a dark wood for the frame and light wood for the floating center. Mine even has double splines on the corners, just like Marcs.
So wow. I guess I should familiarize myself with more of Marcs projects. Perhaps this is a design Ive seen somewhere before and was in my unconscious mind, just waiting to come out? Well Marc, sorry about the similarity. If I had seen your clock I certainly would have come up with a different project. But as it is, enjoy my take on the "floating clock".
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Announcing The Wood Shoppé t shirts for woodworkers

Just in time for the holidays!My son Wyatt and I have teamed up to create a t-shirt shop just for woodworkers. (And loved ones who put up with them!)
There are a lot of designs to choose from and we have plans for more. Plus, there is WWMM logo wear that is always popular.
If you have an witty idea for a shirt, send it to us at steve@zram.com. If we decide to use it, well sent you the design on a shirt, and include your name in the product description. Plus well throw in a bonus shirt...pick out whatever you like from the store.
Visit The Wood Shoppé here!

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Make a wood mallet

I made my first mallet six years ago. Since then, I have made four more. I picked up this technique from Woodsmith magazine and really like it. I especially like the method of creating a mortise without needing to bore a square hole.
I went to the sporting goods store the other day to pick up some fishing sinkers: little lead weights that I usually use to fill the mallets head. After looking at the price (I would need about $15 worth of them!) my son suggested I try filling the head with sand instead. It worked well, but it is no where near as heavy as the little lead balls. Live and learn. But it is still has a nice weight to it.

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And even more on the 3 piece wood puzzle!

You will recall a couple months ago when Tim made this cool little puzzle:

And then I made one.
And then Tim supplied a measured drawing.
And then someone had a question about a certain dimension, so Tim added it and supplied the PDF.
And then world was a happy place and we all made puzzles and rejoiced.
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Ludovic Lemarinel wasnt content to leave well enough alone, so he designed the puzzle in SketchUp! This version is especially handy for you Europeans, because it is in metric, which frankly seems easier to use on very small projects. He calls it the CGO puzzle because, well the pieces spell out CGO when you stand them on end. I think COG would be a better acronym, though. Or maybe OGC, which in the case of my recent projects would stand for "Oh God, Crap".
Heres a picture of his plan if you are not SketchUp-minded. So Ludovic: thanks man! Soon, every household will have a CGO.

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Sliced wood and a pallet fence

A few of the fantastic many projects and photos viewers have posted this past week on my Facebook page. *****
I am not sure the origin of this photo, but its an idea that cause me to scoff at its absurdity and marvel at its ingenuity!

Im always impressed by the myriad of ways people are using pallets and pallet wood to build things. Check out this pallet fence from Scott Allender.

Havent seen a new whirligig in a while. Heres a really fun design by Ivan Parrish:

Cool picture from Tahquamenon Woods showing how logs are sliced up for lumber:

Lots of people have made my wooden wheelbarrow planter, but John Turner scaled it down to create this micro-version to cheer someone up at the hospital.

Wolly Ireland has made several rustic batch cabinets. This one looks great finished with linseed oil.

Depending on the winter weather where you live, it might be a little early to start working on outdoor projects. But once it begins to thaw, this bench is a good project to get you into your shop and yard. Brian Miller has a celebrity sitting is his bench!

Finally, here is a fantastic plywood chair from Sergio José Aparicio Arévalo. Exposed edges are really cool.

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Transfer color pictures to wood

Heres a really neat technique I want to try. This guy transfers color laser prints to wood using an iron. Pretty cool.

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